Ah, the heady feel of a new year, when you can leave all of last year’s mistakes behind you and emerge as some shiny, productive, improved version of yourself. At least until the second week in January, when it all seems a bit too much like hard work, the weather is bloody miserable, your next […]
Tag Archives: Writing
An, another November draws to a close, another year when I have not managed to even half-arsedly participate in NaNoWriMo. In theory, this is a project custom built for me: while I like to carry stories around in my head for a while before I tell them, I’m also a big fan of a quickly […]
One of the criticisms of the digital book market is that it puts pressure on authors to constantly churn out new material: that on top of the ‘book a year’ demands of mainstream publishers, authors are now expected to produce digital-only short stories to keep their profile high and, of course, bring in extra income. […]
One of the pleasures of publishing is other people’s reactions to your writing: I don’t imagine there’s a writer out there who doesn’t love getting nice feedback. If you didn’t want readers to connect with your writing, you wouldn’t put it out there, and the validation that comes with a good review can’t be overstated. […]
When I first started writing fiction, it was with a definite ‘literary’ slant. Although I did get a few short stories published in women’s magazines (a market I would heartily recommend, since they actually pay far better than most literary mags), my first novel and collection of short stories fit most comfortably in that most […]
So, while the Dark Dates universe is still close to my heart – I’m working on the next one now, honest! – my latest book marks a different direction. It’s a foray into chick lit, but don’t worry – snark still abounds, plus a Newcastle setting that is a love letter to my hometown (as […]
People often (OK, very occasionally… OK, hardly ever) ask me about my writing ‘process’. It mainly goes like this… Preparation: I write first drafts in longhand, so choosing the ‘right’ notebook to get started is important. So…This one, maybe? Procrastination: I dunno, though. Maybe this one? More procrastination: Maybe I should sleep on it. I’ll […]
Dark Dates 